In a strange turn of events it would appear that not many fans on either side are looking forward to Sunday’s Wear-Tyne derby.

Sunderland welcome Newcastle to the Stadium of Light for the 4pm kick-off looking to win their second derby of the season and extend their winning run over the Magpies to five games.

However, with the Black Cats in such bad form and nervously teetering on the edge of the relegation zone, and with the Tynesiders’ season withering away with a whimper, it seems getting excited for the game is hard to do.

That being said though, this is still a derby and losing to your bitter rivals will be hard to take for either side.

It is also worth noting that Newcastle are not mathematically safe yet and could get dragged into the relegation battle, however unlikely that may seem.

In the video above Lee Ryder looks ahead to this weekend’s game and explains why, for him, this game is still massively important.